Wednesday, June 22, 2011

One of the early highlights of Tuesday's game was getting to hear Seth Smith's dad in the broadcast booth with Drew Goodman and Jeff Huson talking about his son's terrific accomplishments in sports other than baseball while growing up.

I've said a time or two I believe Smith is the best pure hitter on this team. Is it possible he's also the best pure athlete? Sounds like he could be.

It was also entertaining hearing Mr. Smith's southern drawl. That was a nice changup from Jeff Huson's robotic tone and use of the same cliches and pieces of analysis over and over. If I had a vote, I'd actually have Mr. Smith replace Huson when George Frazier is off doing whatever things George Frazier does. But of course my first choice would still be Lisa Iannetta.

The only thing I wish I could change about the game is having Smith's dad in the booth for one or both of Seth's home runs.

Wow, were those two blasts HUGE for the Rockies.

The first one was a two-run blast off starter Mitch Talbot in the 6th, which extended the lead to a seemingly comfortable 3-0 margin. This following Jason Giambi's big two-out double that kept the line moving.

The second is possibly Colorado's most important home run of the season so far. It came immediately after an 8th inning that saw Rafael Betancourt struggle and blow a 3-1 lead. Matt Belisle also allowed a hit in there, but really did a nice job keeping the damage minimal.

Seth Smith was the Rockies offense tonight along with Jason Giambi, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles. Carlos Gonzalez teamed up with Jonathan Herrera for a single run in the 5th, but it really was Smith and Giambi doing the work.

Jhoulys Chacin: Whew. Once he gets a little more consistency with his command, there will be few words available to describe his awesomeness. He's so close to breaking completely through. Just a little better command, a little more effiency with his pitches, maybe a little more trust in himself, and he'll be a recognized ace around the entire league. And you can bet he'll be bidding on a no-hitter again very soon.

Rafael Betancourt: Up and down a bit lately. Down in this one. Seems to happen more often on the backend of back-to-backs, so maybe a closer monitoring of his usage is in order.

Huston Street: He had everyone on the edge of their seat again. It certainly was interesting, but the end result was the same as it's been 22 out of 24 times. He gets the final out before the opposition ties it or goes ahead. I'll take it.